E-mailed customer satisfaction survey for NSF Current newsletter

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3145-0215)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: E-mailed customer satisfaction survey for NSF Current newsletter

PURPOSE:

We are requesting voluntary feedback from subscribers to the NSF Current newsletter, and subscribers to NSF Updates for publications that include Current. We will include a link to a customer-satisfaction survey at the top of the April or May 2012 e-newsletter (the email from NSF that contains brief previews of articles, with links to full articles online). Subscribers will be asked what they do with the newsletter, what information they value, and one demographic question about groups with which they are affiliated. The survey is part of OLPA's effort to determine how many individuals read the newsletter, what type of content subscribers want and use, what groups are being reached, and ways to potentially increase readership.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents will be among the subscribers who have signed up to receive Current in a monthly email--more than 25,000--and possibly some of the subscribers to NSF Updates that include Current--about 1800. Subscribers belong roughly to the following categories: federal and state government (.gov) 2%, educational institutions (.edu) 16%, and members of the general public (.com) 69%. Because of the size of our subscription list, we estimate a potential response rate of about 1%, primarily from the direct subscribers.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:_ Suzanne Plimpton, NSF Reports Clearance Officer_________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X ] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Subscribers	250	2 minutes	8.3 hours
Totals	250	2 minutes	8.3 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is __$500______

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

The survey will be disseminated to all subscribers, and the respondents will self-select. The response is entirely voluntary.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X ] No

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